It was just the other day when I came across a startling newspaper article surrounding the death of our dear Ophelia. I commonly read the columns done by Mr.Seng as I find them quite entertaining to read. While there are parts of the column that I do not agree with, I feel like Peter has nailed Ophelia's purpose on the head. I had heard that Polonius had been rather rough on Opehlia as she felt like she was falling for my Lord Hamlet. As I have heard Polonius to say, "You do not understand yourself so clearly as it behooves my daughter and your honor," (1.3.96-97). Furthermore it came to my attention that while her father was giving her a hard time, her brother Laertes was confirming what Polonius had already said by stating, "For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, hold it a fashion and a toy in blood," (1.3.5-6).
It becomes very easy for me to see why Ophelia had turned mad directly before she drowned in the lake. In the article, Seng goes on to say that Polonius had caused "the spoliation of her mind's purity and her child-like trust," (Seng. pp 220). While I believe that Ms. Ophelia should be given much more credit than being called a simple child, I do believe that the demands from her brother and father went very far with her to her corruption. Other than her brother and her father, the king and queen also believe that Hamlet is simply acting strangely because of "this hot love on the wing-" (2.2.133). By saying this, they are, in a way, thinking both Hamlet and Ophelia to be nothing more than naive children, which is surely not the case.
On another note, I believe that while Ophelia may have been considered mad, she spoke nothing but the truth. Seng agreed with me in his column, saying that Ophelia's songs "reflect, if only darkly, all the major issues of the play," (Seng. pp 221). While no one is taking Ophelia seriously because they consider her to be mad, she is actually speaking of all of the evil that has been occuring in this decrepit land Denmark has become. While nobody has really had the guts to speak of these issues out in the open, Ophelia brings up all of the troubling acts that have been occuring. When Ophelia sings "He is gone, he is gone, and we cast away moan, God ha' mercy on his soul," (4.5.194-196) she is bringing up the poor funeral that was held for her father.
At the same time, she also sings of the late, older King Hamlet and how Gertrude could take a new husband so quickly. She sings of her falling in love with Hamlet, possibly too quickly when she says, "Alack, and fie, for shame!Young men will do 't, if they come to 't," (4.5.58-59). In the end, it is apparent that all of the people in Ophelia's life have pressured her in some way, possibly to the point of madness. She was confused at exactly what her relationship was with my Lord Hamlet. At the same time he was saying he truly loved her, she was gaining a different perspective from her father and her brother. Ophelia's mother is not present and thus she has no womanly advice in which to work from. After her father's death and her Hamlet being transformed into what appeared to be a shadow of his former self, the grief drove her to apparent "madness".
Peter Seng got it right when he realized just how important these ballads of Ophelia's prove to be. He correctly states that these "ballads have produced a number of imitations," (Seng). These imitations all cover the common themes of love, betrayal, and death. While Ophelia is considered mad, Seng agrees with me when he says that the things she is saying have definite merit to them. While I do not agree with Seng that Ophelia is a "child like figure", I do believe the purity of her mind was destroyed through the demands of her father, brother, Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude. We will surely miss dear Ophelia.
Horatio
Dear Horatio,
ReplyDeleteAs I read your response to Peter Seng's criticism, I found many things that I agreed with and only a couple that I disagreed with. I strongly support your statement that Ophelia's brother and father had a major impact on her mental state. They weren't exactly the most supportive family, telling her that my son's love is "Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting" (1.3.8). I disagree with me falling in love with Claudius too quickly! There is nothing wrong with trying to move on and get going with my life again. I spent way too much time crying and mourning my late husband that I was going insane. As Hamlet said, "With which she followed my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears" (1.2.148-149). Please. Do not say such insensitive things.
Gertrude
Horatio,
ReplyDeleteI have been graced by your intellect and I seem to agree with your reasoning for my insanity. It deals much with my ‘torn’ feeling between my father’s harsh advice of “Set your entreatments at a higher rate” (1.3.131). Your response to Seng was surprising to me as many others took his side in explaining my sanity, blaming Hamlet’s downfall, but they miss the point at hand. They miss the fact that I am the one that went insane and that the issues/reasons deal more direct to me than simply Hamlet and his moods. Of course I am “importuned…with love” (1.3.119) by Hamlet, yet due to my excessive attraction and love for him I always knew that he would somehow return to himself. I could deal with Hamlet in his crazy days, it wasn’t until your agreement on My Lord, Polonius’s, harsh words and eventually death (a deadly and sad combination) that my heart was really ripped from me. Your response to Seng leaves me fresh and relieved that I can rely on someone for the honest truth to fill in the blanks in a field of hazy corruption and secrecy. “I have found the very cause of Hamlet’s lunacy” (2.2.51-52) as my Lord stated, he was correct, what he didn’t realize is that in trying to save his daughter, by determining Hamlet’s insecurities, it led to his own death—tragic.
Love,
Ophelia